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Bus crushes man to death under pedestrian bridge

By Tobi Awodipe
21 February 2018   |   4:24 am
It was a sad way to die. Many who assembled to watch the deceased’s lifeless body could not help but pity the fate of an unidentified young man, who was crushed...

It was a sad way to die. Many who assembled to watch the deceased’s lifeless body could not help but pity the fate of an unidentified young man, who was crushed to death yesterday by a speeding commercial bus just under the pedestrian bridge at Ilasa bus-stop, on Apapa-Oshodi expressway.

The sad incident, which happened at about 4:00p.m. saw a huge crowd gathered round the body, confused as to what to do while awaiting the arrival of emergency responders. The young man was, according to eyewitnesses, a casual labourer and was well known in the area.

He was drinking with some friends directly under the pedestrian bridge at Hassan bus-stop and decided to cross the expressway to meet some of his friends on the Sadiku side of the highway. As he dashed across the road, driver of the interstate bus, which was coming at top speed, saw him too late, as the bus lifted him and crushed him across the road divider. The man died instantly.

The bus driver initially waited initially but immediately he saw the man was dead and sighted the mob advancing towards him, he fled the scene. The crowd gathered, but seeing they couldn’t do anything to rescue him, placed some used tires around the scene and directed traffic to the other lane.

A street urchin, who spoke in confidentiality to The Guardian, said they didn’t want to render any assistance of any sort so they wouldn’t be implicated in any way. Speaking in Yoruba, he said: “The driver that hit him has run away, what is my own? That is the bridge on top of him, he did not use it. If we touch him and police come, they will arrest all of us here. It is better we leave him and when they are ready, they will come and carry him away.”

Sadly but surprisingly, while the body of the deceased was yet to be evacuated from the scene, some others were seen still crossing the expressway and shunning the pedestrian bridge.

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